The door opened loudly as the pink pony entered with a bouncy step into the Library; cheerfulness oozed from her very being.
"TWI-TWILIGHT!" sang the vivacious mare, looking around and seeing nopony in the main floor. "SPIKE!"
From above, a voice answered a little less loud, that of her friend, Twilight Sparkle.
"Just a moment, Pinkie."
Pinkie sat down, beaming, as Twilight came down the stairs and went to meet her. The unicorn also smiled at the sight of her friend, sitting in front of her.
"So, when is it?" asked Twilight.
"It's tomorrow, tomorrow!" answered the earth pony happily as she reached into her saddlebag with her mouth and passed Twilight an invitation. With that, she turned back and trotted over, somehow leaving a small rain of confetti behind. The unicorn chuckled while she opened the envelope.
"I'll have to ask Spike to clean the mess after he's done with the Crusaders. Silly fillies." she laughed again at how Pinkie-like that had sound and went upstairs as she read.
You're invited to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's second anniversary party, tomorrow at Sugar Cube Corner, 7.00 p.m.
She floated the invitation to her bed and looked beside it, where a small package was wrapped in blue paper with a yellow string. A Daring Do autographed by none other than Blue Quill, the acclaimed author of the series for RD; for Fluttershy, a new Sparklight novel. The unicorn shook her head at the desperate romantic fictional ideals of the yellow pegasus. She was completely sure that was a reason of weight for she to choose the athletic blue mare. That was not to say that they hadn't blended extremely well, and Dash had proved herself extremely committed and loving without having to leave her –Twilight smiled- dashing life style behind. The third book was a guide of sexual techniques for couples. The mildest of blushes appeared on her face. Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had approached her –the shy mare almost choked trying to convey her request, her face almost tomato-like in its redness, while Rainbow had come and babbled fast and incoherently until Twilight had managed to get her speaking normally and express her message. She knew that Fluttershy had also confided to Rarity during some spa sessions; the white unicorn had confided the secret to her as well, and they settled on this book after some discussion.
She had lent Spike to the Crusaders on a mission to help find Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle's Cutie Marks –Apple Bloom had earned hers when other of those had caused the tree-house to come crashing down completely, luckily nopony got hurt, and the small earth pony set on to rebuild from scratch- so she could have some time to prepare the gift; the small dragon would soon be on the knowing age, but she didn't want to have to explain anything yet. Smiling contently at her job, she hid the package down her bed and trotted back downstairs to attend on the library and continue her studies.
A three level, strawberry flavored cake dominated the food table at the bakery, which also had different sweets and food from Sugarcube Corner, the Apple family and Bon Bon's own confections. Topping the cake were two miniatures representing the happy couple and written across it in huge letters:
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, RAINBOW SHY!
Guests began to arrive, depositing their gifts in a table adjacent to the food table, and greeting the couple as they came inside. Rainbow Dash wore nothing more than a silver necklace with their initials engraved in a heart shape, which she shared with her marefriend. Fluttershy wore a dark yellow dress complemented with purple hemlines, and a yellow tiara, which had been some of Rarity's gifts.
Once all the guests arrived, they continued with a small discourse from both Rainbow and Fluttershy. Everypony was surprised with the polychromatic mare's delightful speech; Twilight of course snickered in her mind, remembering the night that had gone spent with Rainbow writing that speech. She had a plethora of good feelings for her marefriend, but she did know absolutely nil of writing a detailed talk for such an occasion, besides the effort on writing it, two weeks had been spent practicing in the privacy of Twilight's room, given that she was in no condition to make the journey every day to Rainbow's house, –they lived down at the cottage, but Rainbow had kept her home as a relaxing place- and it'd be suspicious, much more than the Library.
Among the presents, there were an exquisite set of bedclothes from Celestia and Luna, -which drove Rarity a little over the edge, given that other of her gifts had been a hard-worked on set of bed sheets- as well as a letter, lamenting their absence for the big celebration; likewise with Shining and Cadence, whose gift was a beautiful wall mirror. The Doctor presented them with a huge, decorative sand clock, Applejack's –and her family – gift was some bottles of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic cider, and Pinkie's was a load of board games "for the boring times."
Soon, Twilight's gift was among the remaining ones, and as she saw Rainbow pick it up, she whispered at her ear, convincing the mare to set that one apart, not without a bit of desire from the pegasus to entertain herself right there, earning a scowl from Twilight.
"Think of the foals, Dash"
The accused pony backed and the gift opening continued. Once they were all revealed, it was time for eat, drink and dance. A circle opened in the middle of the room, leaving space for the dancing couples. Rainbow and Fluttershy stepped first into the impromptu dance floor, with a slow ballad provided by Octavia and Lyra. Soon they were joined by other couples. The night slowly caught up to them and the guests gradually dwindled. Twilight decided to return to the Library alongside Spike and said goodbye to all, but before she could depart, the couple approached them; for some reason Fluttershy blushed intensely. Rainbow did as well, but not as noticeably. The blue mare spoke
"Listen, Twi, Flutters and I'd like to speak to you… in private, if that's fine, Spike," said Dash, with an uncharacteristically low tone of voice. The small dragon nodded and was sent towards the library while the three ponies went towards the other direction, in silence. After a while of walking around, Twilight decided to break it.
"What's the matter, girls?"
They came to a stop, and Rainbow looked at Fluttershy, who gave an almost imperceptible nod, and retreated into her mane. Rainbow approached the unicorn
"Listen, Twi," she repeated. "Fluttershy and I've been talking, and we… we'd like to have a foal…" her voice was almost a whisper. Twilight's mouth formed an "O" shape as she processed what was being said. Rainbow continued. "And … we don't want to adopt. We want to see if we could have a foal of our own… So, we wanted to ask you if you might be able to help us."
Silence reigned for a while as Twilight looked at the two ponies before her, opening her mouth a couple of times for nothing to come out of it. She closed her eyes, and finally opened them, while the pegasi looked at her, expectantly.
"I can't promise anything to you, but I will investigate. If I find anything, I'll inform you promptly." No longer had she said this that she found herself in the floor, tackled by two very happy ponies.
"Oh, thank you, Twilight; I hope you can find something."
"You're the best, Twi!"
She slowly pulled herself up, when the couple backed off, both grinning sheepishly.
"Well, girls, I'll go to bed now, and will investigate first thing in the morning. Good night, and congratulations again!"
With that, the three ponies parted ways into their respective houses.
Twilight began her morning routine the usual way, taking a bath and then eating the delicious breakfast prepared by Spike. After that, she went to work; after picking the shelves, a load of books laid prepared in a table and she sat down.
Time passed as she carefully checked every single book that has been put apart, and the rejected list grew larger, along with a frown with her face. She finally put the last book away with a grunt.
"This has not worked well. I will have to go to Canterlot."
Spike was left in charge of the Library the next morning, as Twilight got in the train to Canterlot. She had not brought any book, and rested her head on the window, watching the passing scenery. Memories of the recent party and the two prior years crossed her mind vertiginously. A sigh escaped her lips.
"Someday…"
As she approached the Castle, her face contorted in a surprised expression, for none other than the Princess was at the bottom of the stairs. She trotted quickly to meet the ruler.
"Princess, I'm so happy to see you!"
"As am I, Twilight Sparkle. What do we owe to the pleasure of your visit?"
The purple unicorn's face blushed strongly.
"Can we go inside, Princess…?"
By Celestia's indication, Twilight settled down to revise a certain section of the Royal Library. After searching through several books, she came across a rather thick tome: Magical Pregnancies: help for ponies in need. Quickly, she began to take notes.
Twilight gazed again out of the window, as the sun settled behind the mountains and a cool breeze blew through, disheveling her mane; this time she didn't feel apprehension but excitement at coming back.
As the sun rose in the sky, Twilight leaped out of bed, and without taking breakfast or giving more than a brief combing to her mane, she headed towards the cottage, trotting rhythmically.
Fluttershy was out feeding some of her animal friends when she heard the heavy trot coming towards their house. She went out curiously and saw Twilight stopping at the porch.
"Hi, Twilight. What bring you here this early? Not that is bad to see you or anything." the shy pegasus excused herself immediately. She recovered upon seeing her friend's beaming face.
"Fluttershy, I have excellent news for you both!"
The yellow mare's face lightened at hearing these words, her mouth opened widely.
"Oh, Twilight, you can't possibly mean…"
The excited unicorn nodded energically. "Yes, yes, yes!"
Both mares jumped excitedly in the spot.
"Oh, wait until we tell Rainbow Dash! Come inside, please, Twilight."
Twilight sat in the living room while Fluttershy went up to wake her marefriend. Ten minutes later both ponies came down, Rainbow zooming there in a column of light.
"It's true what Flutters told me, Twilight?" asked the blue pegasus, barely containing her excitement.
"Yes it is, Rainbow Dash," affirmed the unicorn, smiling broadly, before being pushed by a multicolor wind; the cottage's door has crashed down and a whoosh could be heard in her wake, followed by a big scream piercing the air.
The three ponies settled down in the living room, and the pegasi listened intently to their friend.
"Now, listen, girls. This is a spell that was originally developed for use on straight couples that have problems conceiving. But it has also been used on cases such as yours, and there seems to be no problem regarding it."
Both Fluttershy's and Dash's faces were gleaming at this point, both embraced each other strongly.
"There are two things you need to know, however."
At this, the two mares seemingly deflated, their ears perking down. Fluttershy spoke
"What is that, Twilight?"
"Well, first…" the unicorn breathed heavily, before following. "The caster needs to be there in the moment of the conception," answered Twilight, her face totally red. Rainbow tilted her head; Fluttershy whispered in her ear, also blushing madly. She turned back to Twilight.
"Is that necessary…?"
"I'm afraid it is. This spell rides on the waves of your connection, and needs to be cast at the exact point for it to be successfully performed."
Both pegasi looked at each other. Rainbow spoke this time.
"I'll do what you say, Flutters," said simply the cyan mare.
The addressed pegasus looked from her marefriend to her friend, and bit her lip, inhaling air softly, and closing her eyes. She opened them and looked at the unicorn.
"I trust you, Twilight. I'll do it."
The unicorn smiled. "It'll be all right, Fluttershy. Now, the second detail. Foals conceived through this method will always be unicorns; they have this big concentration of magic in them. Are you ok with this?"
This time, Fluttershy looked at Dash, who remained silent. The butter mare put a hoof over one on the blue pegasus, calling out to her softly.
"Are you fine, Rainbow Dash?"
"I.. don't know,." stuttered the rainbow-maned mare, looking a little out of herself. Fluttershy stroked her mane gently, bringing Dash to her kind, soft embrace. Twilight rose from her chair.
"Look, girls, I think it's better if you talk this over, right? Whatever it is that you decide, you can tell me. Please calm down, Rainbow Dash."
"That's fine, Twilight. Thank you very much. We'll tell you," said the yellow pony, still embracing her now trembling marefriend.
Twilight abandoned the cottage and went back to the library, praying to Celestia for everything to turn out fine.
